1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to an information processing apparatus for releasing restriction on use of a storage device with authentication information.
2. Description of the Related Art
A storage device, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), in an information processing apparatus stores user data and programs. When the user data can be freely obtained from the storage device, information can be leaked. When a program in the storage device can be freely rewritten, the information processing apparatus can execute an erroneous operation.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-23943 discusses a technique for limiting access to the storage device by setting a password in the storage device.
Even when the information processing apparatus generates the password with a predetermined algorithm and sets the password in the storage device, if the algorithm is analyzed and then the password is freely generated, the storage device can be accessed without any restrictions. When the algorithm is analyzed, the algorithm for generating the password needs to be changed.
However, in the information processing apparatus configured to generate the password according to the algorithm, when the algorithm is changed, the password to be generated is also changed. Thus, the information processing apparatus cannot release the lock on the storage device.
Further, when the information processing apparatus includes a plurality of programs for generating the password and different programs are used depending on the situation, if the algorithm varies depending on the program in use, the generated password also varies. In such a case, too, the information processing apparatus may not be able to release the lock on the storage device.